Means for applying fastening devices



Nov. 4, 1947.

J. N. M. HOWELLS MEANS FOR APPLYING FASTENING DEVICES 2 sheets-sheet 1 v INVENTOR. JOHN N-M. HOWELL-S Filed Oct. 21, 1944 f' h EMF: IE1

. JTTOE'NEY Nov. 4, 1947. J. N. M: HQWELLS MEANS FOR APPLYING FASTENING DEVICES Filed on. 21, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR.

bef'ob oil's" aria Patented Nov. 4, 1947 r ime a ses-m i sas John N. M. liowells liittery Point, Mame n i l an o i i rzi, 1944', Sam N6. 559,772

- is an obiect of y invention to providea sin ple and e fii ent dri iig't'oolffor'usein con- I jiiiiCtiO-n jvitli f dimes sen-ren ve t n nail. O olii'ects his:iiive nft'ion' wil1 part d may Q cation: for-Fasten- ;I the. eeei a i in aemw n i ..-Whi@ ar ntion,

Fig. l is a sectional view showing a notched uses-re r fit i 3W fli i aefornied nail driven through vview, but With onlythe point il in rtedland a driving toolemboliy- ,F a. smartest s eiai eeeiy e i i ei i ified form of tqol'e nlbodying invention-for .c rivins a smpq h shaii sna .Fig. 'lis an' enlarg ed sle ctiona1'view taken substantially .alongfithe'line 11 1 ;of vFig. i 6;

s. Fig; 8 is a'view'similar;to; Fig, 2' s h,0wing still another modified form of tool embodying -my invention and likewise driving aismcothshank nail; and

is ciirved'ifor' substantially'its.entireflengthto such an eX'tent thatrthedirection 'of'travel of the tip l'of the nail, along athe'arc'of the-shank irom theihe'ad tfothe tip;nas;a-c'omponent directly 18 Claims.

ijon 6i t e; instant "eppn- I opposite to the direction of travel of the nail he'adi "'f'flhf'e tip of e'i'nail is preierably pointed ahd 'th hea -paras usual-in-fi'theart, may be provided jvv'ith aprojectingap'ortion which extends 5 laterally"beyoiid the'nail' shank to expedite pullnotches-{dependingto somefextent u on the type of driving tool employe Basically; this tool is 10soconstructed'thatjitman ucc'e's'sively apply to hortions' 'of thefiailshank about toenter mate- ";rial Zt ffQ I'Ce substantially normal to the surface Referring" ow in detail to the drawings and more particnl'arly to-Fig'sil thronghfl, I have there'shown'ia" sieli retroverting ,n'ail' l0 including a curvedfs'hank'fl "viihichis tipped-at one end-by a driving point' lkahd' is provided atthe other f'1he"hankjl z is preformed to a shape which it is dies eta to have jth "nail maintain during and "after jdr ing'th'e ifailjhdineinto material. Such '1shape"s"prefera]cly selected to"obtain the best Tho g effectwith thejmaterialior combinations fjof m terial with whichth'e' nail i's'to be employed. "Furthermore"; as" stated "above; this "curvature of suchf that the direction of' travel int M, along the curve of the from iflthei'head to the point, has a comlsh ipo entdirectl'y opposed.to 'theg'direction oftravel -"'oi"'thef l'l'iead" f6."" Withsn'ch'a construction any force tendingto poll apart "two pieces' held togethe by the nail imbedsihe nail; tip more 'Thejnail 1%, shown in Figs. 1 through 3, is adapte'dto be iised'in woodjand .has'a circularly (segmentalfcontour embracing a large arc of j m'qst 'l soffs'oftfhat'ithe nail :m'ayf grip the wood ensively and be held jfii n'fly against retracionl when said nail is 'driven' home, itsflpoint "i l will revert backalinostto the. exposed suri, ajce'pi t'lietopboar'd W;

i The curveal' sdrnofl of ,the shank may embrace ahl' arclof from "at" 1east',90 to about .1802 ,The

a'terjlthe arci embracedibythe, shank the greater lelfthe seliretroverting effect obtained, ibut the reaterlalso-w illrbe the difiiculty in driving the nail; ,lt willfth is be apipreciatedithat it is desirable to have an arc substantiallyr' reater than 0, butt-substantially lessu than 180--a range of fromabout ;,1 10 to 1' 6'0 providing.highly satjsiactoryiresnlts. However, it will be under-stoodthat allnails havingcurved shankscovering anarc greater than; and-gvhose-tips dur- 5 ing d ivingof; the; nail travel ina direction havin 3 a component directly opposed to the direction of travel of the nail head may be driven by a tool embodying my invention.

The cross-sectional contour of the shank 12 may be of a generally circular outline except where the same, as hereinafter explained, is notched. However, said shank may alternatively assume any other desirable or conventional outline, as for example oval, rectangular or triangular. Also, the nail may, as shown, be of substantially uniform diameter from head to tip, disregarding notches, with an abrupt taper to form a point, or the nail may be tapered. all the way from the head to the point or be tapered to the point from any portion of the shank intermediate the head and point without afiecting the operation of the nail.

The head of the nail should be such that it overhangs the shank, at least partially, and to this end the head may be longer than the diameter of the shank in one dimension. In order to simplify construction of the driving tool, the head of the nail is preferably no greater than thediameter of the shank at right angles to said dimension. Of course,the head in brad type selfretroverting nails may simply comprise an end of the shank and have no portion projecting laterally beyond the same.

The self-retroverting nail illustrated in Fig. 1 has its head 16 specially proportioned and formed to cooperate with a driving tool l8 embodying my invention and hereinafter more fully described. For this specific purpose, said head is longer than the diameter of the shank I2 in the plane in which the nail is curved and shorter than said diameter at right angles to said plane.

The inner surface of the point It. may be formed to the same circular curvature as the shank l2, so that it will guide said shank along the desired path through overlying boards W, W. Since the nail is not deformed during insertion,it will retain its full original strength and will be able to firmly hold the two Wooden boards, W, W, together. It will also be appreciated that since the point and shank stay in fixed angular' relationship and the shank is a circularly segmental arc, the bore pierced through the wood by the point 14 is never crushed or mutilated by the shank, and the full length of this bore and the entire peripheral area thereof will thus be available to frictionally engage the nail shank.

The diameter and length of the nail in inches may be varied as desired, and the selection of any particular diameter and length will depend upon the use to which the nail is to be put.

Due to the fact that the head I6 travels in an arcuate path during insertion of the nail l into material, the nail cannot be driven in the usual manner by hammer blows applied to the head in a direction normal to the surface of the material. Therefore, in accordance with my invention, I have provided a tool so constructed as to cooperate with said preshaped self-retroverting nail and to apply to the nail shank adjacent the surface into which the nail is driven a force substantially normal to said surface, the tool being arranged to successively apply this force to successive portions of the shank as they approach said surface.

In general, such tool or apparatus may comprise means to hold the curved shank of the nail and to permit angular movement of the nail along the curve of its shank from an entrance end of saidholding means to an exit end thereof. The tool also includes means for receiving a driving impulse and means for transmitting said 4 impulse and applying the same in a substantially tangential fashion to a portion of the shank of the nail in the holding means, this portion being the one about to enter the material into which the nail is to be driven or is being driven. This latter means is so constructed and arranged that it will apply an impulse to the nail shank near the exit end of the holding means and in a plane in which the curved shank of the nail lies, said impulse being applied in such direction in said plane as to angularly advance the tip of the nail into or through said material. Furthermore, the impulse transmitting and applying means is of such nature that it is engageable and disengageable with portions along the shank intermediate the two ends of the nail so that after a driving impulse has been applied and the nail partially driven in, the tool may be easily shifted to a point further back along the shank for the reception and transmission of another driving impulse.

Referring now to Figs. 2 through 4, I have there illustrated a driving apparatus which will give satisfactory results. Said apparatus comprises a 0 driving tool I8 composed of a metal post 2!] having a hardened upper end. The lower end of the post is undercut at 22 for a purpose which will soon be apparent. Rivets 24 permanently secure a gripping member 26 of resilient material, such as strip of spring steel, to the lower end of the post. Portions 28 of the gripping member 26 are bent to lie snugly against the sides of the post and offset portions 30 at the end of the portions 28 partially overlie and snugly fit against the front of the post. From the offset portions 30, the ends of the member 26 extend away from the post in two substantially parallel walls 32 which are provided with oppositely indented registered arcuate grooves 34 and 36 of the same general configuration as the nail shank l2. Said grooves 34 and 3.6, which together provide a passageway P for the nail shank {2, are so arranged relatively to the post 20 that when a nail i0 is introduced into said passageway, the shank of the nail will traverse the undercut 22 of the post.

The passageway P is slightly narrower than the diameter of the smallest shank to be employed with the tool 18, so that when a nail is introduced into said passageway, it will be lightly frictionally gripped between the two walls 32.

The shank I2 of the nail I0 is provided throughout its length with a plurality of notches 38, each of which has a short step 40 substantially parallel to the radius of curvature of the shank. The face 42 of each notch is approximately perpendicular to its associated step 40, or to the step 43 of the immediately preceding notch in the direction toward the nail point 14.

The toe 44 of the post 20 at the bottom of the undercut 22 is hardened and is so disposed relative to the passageway P that when the point M of a nail I0 is pushed sufficiently far through said passageway, said toe 44 will lie in the foremost notch 38.

If desired, the toe 44 may be so fashioned that its under surface 45 lies flatly on the steps 40 of the notches, and its forward surface 48 lies flat against the faces 42 thereof.

After the nail has been introduced into said passageway and is lightly held by the walls 32, the point 14 will project beyond the bottom of the tool l8. Said point is placed against the material into which the nail is to be driven, the post is vertically disposed, and a hammer blow is applied to its upper end. The driving impulse 5 which is imparted will be transmitted from the toe A l to the first step All of the shank l2, "cau's ing the nail to move'until said step lies flush against the surface'of the material. While the post 2-0 is moving downwardly, it will remain verf tidal and, depending upon the formation'o'f the toe 44, may shift laterally slightly away-from the nail shank. The relative angular position or the nail shank and post will, therefore, be altered. But this'relative movement is'taken up by spring a'c-tionof the walls 32. The tool [8 is-how' disengaged from the first notch wand moved to the second notch, this position being shown in Fig. 2; Thereupon, another driving impulse is applied. This procedure is repeated until thestep'of the last notch lies flush against the surface oi the material. Thev head of the nail may. now-be di-- rectlydriven into the wood by the hammer.

In Fig. 5, I. have shown a nail 50- of'slightly difierent' shape, the same being so constructed that it will provide. a greater clinching effect than thesemi-circular nail l9 above described. In said mail 59 the radius ofv curvature ofsthe shank 52 varies from thehead 54 tothe point 56, being least adjacent the head and greatest adjacent the point. Such construction enables the nail-to traverse a greater span. Nails. of this type are particularly useful with wall board .3. Wherea preformed nail is. driven through such relaiil felvsoft material, the inner surface of the point nedn0t havea curvature which matches that ofthe shank 52. since said shank willbe strong er ugh toresist any bending stressimposed dur, ins lnserti n.

the for goin seli-retroverting. nails have been described as being provided with notches, it will be understood readily that the k may besmooth and free. from notchesor iene- 1g. 6 I. have shown such a self-retroverting a l E whose t2; comprises, a seem nto a circle covering an arc-of approximately 15.09 from its pointed tip 64 to itshead 66..

can pailmav bedriven into, .mat a1 ye 1: rnbody-ing a ified form of my invention a ad t d to d ive a n il vin her a notched or smoothshank. The tool 58 includes a netal dr ing post inheriting, ahardened upper lower-enduoi the. tool isenlargedto ingheadlz containing a driving clamp y constructed to. engage :and disengage with any portion of the curved nail shan k inter mediate its two ends so that driving impulses applied the upper. endoicthe post will be transmitted therethrough to the nail shank to tor-co the same into the boa-rdW, W;

Said driving clamp includes two drivingshoes .5:, 18 :slidably received inhorizontaland vertical "SW 5 9,, 2 provided .insthe drivinghead 12,-. .(Dne driving shoe, for example, the left-hand shoe-1 6, hesa CQII'YaeXly curved and grooved right-hand edge. 55 which negatively matchesthe external configuration of, the underside .of the nail shank S id cu -ve ie se isaeapted to, enga e a ut 39 o the trans erse. ontour of said'shank. The htghand shoe, 1.8. has a convexly curved :and g oo e left-hand. d e 85 Which negative y match he exte na configu ation oiythe up side ofthgcurved nail shank. This .groove also cover about 90 of the transverse contour of.:said sh nk. o that thetWo sides or flanks of the s nk .-a re left free when the shoes 1 .6, 'lfiensage said shank. Each shoe has aninclined camslot 8d... 95 9 a rmed therein. These. slots extend in ..a ent ils a d d ection and. onver e at a 6 slight angle towards each other, the angle shown in Fig.6 being exaggerated for purposes of illustration.

"Apair-of hard, tough pins 92, 94 Whose opposite ends are secured in the lateral walls otthe driving head 12 bridge thehorizontal slot 89, each pin being received in one of the shoe slots-88, 90. The diameter of the pins is slightly less than the widthof the slots, this also being exaggerated for purposes of-illustration in Figs. 6 and '7. Springs 9 5, 9'8 resiliently bias the shoes It, 18 upwardly. This causes the grooved and curved edges 84, 86 to be urged towards each other.

The pins 82, 94 are so spaced apart that when the springsurgethe shoes upwardly as far as they can go, the bottomsof theslots abutting the pins, the'dis'tance between the grooved andcurved side walls 84, will be less than the diameter of the shank of-a nailto be driven. Thus, when a nail shank is introduced between the shoes, it will be boundlightly inthe driving tool. This binding action, however; is not sufiicient to prevent a nail shank from being forced manually, with ease, through the passageway defined by the shoe edges 84, 86.

The head 12-. is provided with entrance and exit apertures Hill, iii-2 forming a continuation of the said passageway defined by the shoes and aiding to hold and position the shank of the nail.

When adriving impulse is applied to the upperend of-the' tool post 10-, the pins 92, 94-first move downwardly relative to the shoes i6, 18 which at; such time lightly frictionally engage the nail shank. Said initial relative downward movement, which is very slight, causes the shoes to firmlyfrictionally grip the nail shank, whereupon the: shoes transmit the driving impulse. Such impulse will force the. point of the nail in the board W or cause said point to travel further through the boards W, W. Thetool is nowbacked off, that is, grasped by the tool post and pulled back along the shank. Initially, this movement of the tool movesthe pins 62, Mupwardly relative to the shoes 15, 18 which drag along the shank. Such upward movement will relieve the pressure of the shoes against the shank and permit the tool then to be moved readily to a portion of the shank further from the material into which the nailis being driven,

The head 68 of the nail isof such configuration that its projecting portions will pass between the edges 84, 8t ofthe shoes without contacting same, due to the fact that said edges are spaced. In addition, the driving head has laterally disposed grooves lll' l to freely pass said head portions. Whenthe nail has been driven in to such an extentthatthe :headxleaves the exit aperture H12, -the tool 64 is put to oneside and the head of the nail directly. driven into the wood with the hammer.

.In Figs. 8 and ;9, I have shown still another imodified form of tool 1:08. for driving a nail 60 having a smooth shank. Said too1 includes a metaldriving post .lllllhaving ahardened upper end. The lowerendofv the, post is provided with San undercutnotcn 1.15.2 similar to theundercut 22 ioithetool lSshOvvninFigs. 2-4. A-spur IM-extendsinto the bottom of said notch. Said spur has a roughly V-shaped transverse:(horizontal) configuration (Fig. 10) andis relievedat its back *side 11:6 'tozprovidaa sharp 'V-shapeddriving edge H7. Rivets H8 permanently secure a gripping .rnemberJZd-of resilient material, such as a strip 40f :strongesteel, :to'the lower end -of the post. Porxti'ons. IiZZiof. the. gripping member are bent to lie;

snugly against the sides of the post The ends of these portions I22 extend away from the post and are provided with oppositely indented registered arcuate grooves l24, I26 of the same configuration as the flanks of the nail shank Said grooves together define a holding passageway for the nail shank 62 leading past the tip of the sharp V-shaped driving edge ill.

When an impact is applied to the top of the post H0, the driving edge Ill will dig into the nail shank and cause the nail to move arcuately into the wood boards W, W until said edge reaches the upper board W.

It may be mentioned that the edge Ill is able to dig. into the nail shank because the resilient arms I22 spread during driving, allowing the nail shank to leave the holding passageway and to lie flush against the notch H2.

' After the nail has been driven to such an exte'nt that the edge H4 is close to the board W, the tool is shifted back along the nail to dispose the edge Iii adjacentanother portion of the shank closer to the head, and the driving operation is repeated.

It will thus be seen that I have provided driving tools for self-retroverting nails, which tools achieve the several objects of my invention and are well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanyin drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A driving tool for driving elongated nails having longitudinallycurved shanks, said tool comprising means to receive a drivingimpulse, and means to transmit said impulse and apply the same substantially tangentially to a point of the shank of a nail in said tool, said last named means applying an impulse near the point of entry of said nail into material and in a plane including said shank, and in such direction as to angularly advance the tip of the nail, said impulse transmitting and applying means being engageable and disengageable with points along said shank whereby impulses may be successively applied to points along said shank as the tip of the nail moves arcuately into said material.

2. A driving tool for driving elongated nails having longitudinally curved shanks, said tool comprising means to hold the curved shank of a nail and to permit angular movement of said nail along the curve of its shank from an entrance end of said means to an exit end thereof, means to receive a driving impulse, and means to transmit said impulse and apply the same substantially tangentially to a point of the shank of the nail in said holding means, said last named means applying an impulse near the exit end of said holding means in a plane including said shank and in such direction as to angularly advance the tip of the nail, said impulse transmitting and applying means being engageable and disengageable with points along said shank whereby impulses may be successively applied to points along said shank as the tip of the nail moves arcuately away from said exit end.

3. A driving tool as set forth in claim 2 wherein the impulse transmitting and applying means comprises a member which is forced into strong frictional engagement with the shank of the nail during transmission of an impulse.

4. A driving tool as set forth in claim 2 wherein the impulse transmitting and applying means comprises a pair of members which are forced into strong frictional engagement with opposite sides of the shank of the nail during transmission of an impulse.

5. A driving tool as set forth in claim 2 wherein the impulse transmitting and applying means comprises a member mounted for movement towards and away from the shank of the nail and which is moved towards the shank of the nail so as to strongly frictionally engage the same during transmission of an impulse.

6. A driving tool as set forth in claim 2 wherein the impulse transmitting and applying means includes a member adapted to lightly frictionally engage the shank of the nail except during transmission of an impulse when said member strongly frictionally engages the shank of a nail.

7. A driving tool as set forth in claim 2 wherein the impulse transmitting and applying means includes a member adapted to lightly frictionally engage the shank of the nail except during transmission of an impulse when said member is moved to a position to strongly frictionally engage the shank of a nail.

8. A driving too] as set forth in claim 2 wherein the impulse transmitting and applying means comprises a member, means to resiliently urge said member into light frictional engagement with the shank of the nail, and means to urge said member into strong frictional engagement with the shank of the nail during transmission of an impulse.

9. A driving tool as set forth in claim 2 wherein the impulse transmitting and applying means comprises a driving head and a driving shoe, said shoe being mounted for movement relative to said head, said shoe being wedged, during transmission of an impulse, between said head and the shank of the nail.

10. A driving tool as set forth in claim 2 wherein the impulse transmitting and applying means comprises a driving head and a driving shoe, said shoe being mounted for movement relative to said head, said shoe being wedged, during transmission of an impulse, between said head and the shank of the nail, and means to bias said shoe into light frictional engagement with the shank of the nail.

11. A driving tool as set forth in claim 2 wherein the impulse transmitting and receiving means includes a post whose lower edge is shaped to bite into the shank of the nail during transmission of an impulse.

12. A driving tool as set forth in claim 2 wherein the means for holding the curved shank of the nail lightly frictionally grips the nail.

13. A driving tool for driving elongated nails having longitudinally curved shanks provided with irregularities, said tool comprising means to hold the curved shank of a nail and to permit angular movement of said nail along the curve of its shank from an entrance end of said means to an exitend thereof, means to receive a driving impulse, and means to transmit said impulse and apply the same substantially tangentially to a point of the shank of the nail in said holding means, said last named means applying an impulse near the exit end of said holding means in a plane including said shank and in such direction as to angularly advance the tip of the nail, said impulse transmitting and applying means 9 being engageable and disengageable with irregularities along said shank, whereby impulses may be successively applied to points along said shank as the tip of the nail moves arcuately away from said exit nd.

14. A driving tool as set forth in claim 13 wherein the tool includes a rigid member, a portion of which comprises the means to receive a driving impulse and another portion of which comprises the means to transmit said impulse and apply the same to the shank of the nail.

15. A driving tool as set forth in claim 13 wherein the tool includes a rigid member, a portion of which comprises the means to receive a driving impulse and another portion of which comprises the means to transmit said impulse and apply the same to the shank of the nail, and wherein the means for holding the curved shank of the nail lightly frictionally grips said nail.

16. A driving tool as set forth in claim 13 wherein the means to hold the curved shank of the nail comprises a pair of resilient members which frictionally grip the nail.

17. A driving tool as set forth in claim 13 wherein the means to hold the curved shank of the nail comprises a pair of resilient members having arcuate grooves in which the curved shank of the nail is received and frictionally gripped.

JOHN N. M. I-IOWELLS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Sanders Aug. 26, 1873 Madeley July 9, 1918 Burr Aug. 30, 1938 Ilanor Nov. 8, 1892 Alexandrescu Dec. 25, 1906 Merrick Mar. 7, 1916 Ziecler Mar. 1, 1921 

